I am not a gay man but I feel confident enough in my sexuality to say that if I was Julio Iglesias in his prime is the man I'd want to brush up against in the morning. But I am a straight man, in turn Arielle Dombasle in her prime is who I want to be spooning with in the morning after a bottle or two of Bordeaux and a set of dirty white sheets. Born in Connecticut and raised in Mexico of French decent, currently the wife of Bernard-Henri Lévy, this woman is more sophisticated than BMW's iDrive. Julio, born in Madrid, law student, soccer player and guilty of causing more women to slide out of their seats this side of Tom Jones. Together they take the Cuban born Osvaldo Farrés's song to level of sexual tension and longing not seen since I walked by the red light district windows in Amsterdam when I was fourteen.
The song itself is simple (Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps) and has been covered by a plethora of people including such undersiables as (I shutter to think) two of the Spice Girls and The Pussycat Dolls. Under Arielle and Julio the song sheds the chez of the former mentioned and the Nat King Cole-Norman Rockwell-type bubble gum sweetness which corrupts it totally. No this version from Dombasle's "Amor" album, is just under three minutes for a reason, because that's how long it is going to take once you shed those clothes of hers off, but like the act you are ready to hit the replay button time and time again until exhaustion.
The song retains its Cuban feel and sound, with little overproduction. Arielle's voice purrs during her first part until Julio comes in deep and low with a hint of sheepish longing. They continue stabbing back and forth throughout the remainder of the song ramping up the sexual tension until the end where the question remains answered only with the word Perhaps three times over. The lyrics are terribly simple and straight forward, six verses comprised of four lines with little more than fix or six words per line. Their meaning? Just as simple, it is someone asking "Yes?" and always getting a reply of "Maybe."
Probably the majority of songs in the world are written about love or sex, out of those a majority are about unrequited love and this song is no different. It is an example of an age old problem that has started wars, been the cause of murders and countless restless nights alone. It is what strip clubs and the prostitution business base their livelihoods on and for women the reason why they'll pass on the entree and walk around in crippling heels every evening. Everything in our lives eventually comes down to these emotions and even these two sex icons have felt it, they must have or else they couldn't sing about it with such convincing sincerity.
